Surface oxygen plasma modification of screen-printed carbon electrode for quantitative determination of sunset yellow and tartrazine in foods

• Published in: European food research & technology Vol. 248; no. 3; pp. 881 - 892
• Main Authors: Huang, Yi-Ming, Lai, Peng-Nian, Hsu, Chuan-Liang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.03.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agriculture; Analytical Chemistry; Azo dyes; Biotechnology; Carbon; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Dielectric barrier discharge; Dyes; Electrochemistry; Electrodes; Food; Food dyes; Food Science; Forestry; High-performance liquid chromatography; Liquid chromatography; Original Paper; Oxidation; Oxygen; Oxygen plasma; Process parameters; Sensors; Tartrazine; Cyclic voltammetry; Sunset yellow; Tartrazine; Oxygen plasma surface modification
• ISSN: 1438-2377; 1438-2385
• DOI: 10.1007/s00217-021-03927-3

Tartrazine (TT) and sunset yellow (SY) are two commonly used synthetic food dyes. Their adverse effects on human health are reported incrementally when consumed in excess. Therefore, in this study, a simple and effective electrochemical method was developed using inexpensive screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE) for the quantitative determination of the dyes. The electrocatalytic activity of SPCE was ameliorated by non-thermal dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma treatment in oxygen under atmospheric pressure; the process parameters were optimized. The electrochemical behaviors of the dyes were analyzed by the modified SPCE-based sensor using cyclic voltammetry and the optimal operating conditions for the sensor were determined. The respective analytical curves for SY and TT presented a good linearity in the investigated concentration ranges (20–800 ppm ( R 2  = 0.9988), for SY, and 50–800 ppm ( R 2  = 0.9955), for TT). The corresponding LOD values calculated for SY and TT were 12.2 and 34.1 ppm, respectively. The proposed sensor was successfully applied in the determination of these colorants in food products, with satisfactory results comparable to those obtained using a HPLC method.